Chapter Text
“At least they won’t cancel the medal ceremony.”
“This competition has ruined my life.”
“Oh my god.”
“You all knew.”
“I-”
“Everyone has a gold medal, everyone, but not me.”
“You did it.”
“I hate this sport.”
“Wow.”
“I will never skate again.”
Sitting in a world of her own is the newly crowned gold medalist trying to take in everything happening around her. Her biggest competitor sobbing after losing out on what seemed destined for her. Her best friend shouting at the world trying to get someone to understand her pain. Meanwhile, Anna Shcherbakova is stuck inside a green room waiting for what happens next, while trying to process what is happening now.
Anna is shocked that she actually did it. When the fans, the press, and even her own coaching team did not believe in her, she was still able to pull through. And yet, this is not how she pictured her win, if she even pictured it at all.
On the other side of the room is her fellow competitor, Kaori Sakamoto, crying tears of joy for her bronze medal. She beat the odds and is now celebrating with her coaches. They gather around her as she tries to understand what she just accomplished.
Anna glances over to see all of the smiling faces. Everyone is happy for Kaori even though she did not win, and yet it seems as though her coaches have forgotten about their own Olympic champion. She doesn’t know what to categorize this feeling as. Loneliness or jealousy?
When Kaori catches her eye, she can feel every thought she’s having right now get pulled out of her brain and absorbed into Kaori’s. As the moment ends, Kaori stands up, walks over to Anna, and grabs her phone. She pulls out her translator to say, “I wanted to congratulate you on your win. You had an amazing performance today. This may seem odd and I hope I’m not overstepping, but I’m going to find Wakaba and I was wondering if you wanted to join me.”
Anna ponders over her question. She is for the most part confused as to how Kaori can be so kind and want to share her Olympic moment with Anna when she should be celebrating her own achievement. She realizes that while staying here would be less awkward, she does not want to risk confronting Sasha right now, or anyone else for that matter.
She nods. Kaori grabs her hand and drags them out of the green room.
Once they are outside it is complete and utter chaos with cameramen trying to follow everything happening. This is just great, exactly what Anna needs, more cameras. Anna notices Sasha backed up into a corner with Sergei trying to consolidate her. Sasha locks eyes with Anna and suddenly a wave of pain takes over her body. She can almost feel everything that Sasha is feeling. Kaori shakes her wrist and tells her, “Follow me.”
Thankfully for her, the cameramen seem to be more interested in what is happening with her teammates, so they can slip away unnoticed. As they are walking around the rink, the president of the Russian Federation finds Anna and gives her a chased hug congratulating her on her accomplishment. She offers her gratitude and hurries away to catch up with Kaori.
They spot Wakaba who starts full-speed charging at them to give Kaori the biggest hug. Anna steps to the side to not interrupt as they are both crying out of happiness. They are so caught up in the moment that they end up falling to the floor. Wakaba is so proud of her for defying the odds and doing what seemed to be impossible. They finally stand up and Wakaba notices Anna’s presence. Internally, Anna is rethinking her decision to follow Kaori, but those thoughts are quickly put behind her when Wakaba walks over and hugs her. Anna at first is surprised at her forwardness but decides to relax into it. “Congratulations,” is about all Anna can understand, but that’s all she needs to hear. Wakaba notices their hug is being captured by a cameraman and decides to unravel herself. She grabs Anna’s hand and turns back to Kaori to grab hers as well. They face the cameraman and Wakaba raises both of their arms, and Anna and Kaori take a bow.
Anna feels conflicted about all of this. She should be with her coaches. She should be shouting at the rooftops because all of her hard work has finally paid off. And yet at this moment, with two fellow athletes who don’t even speak the same language as her, she feels, less empty. At least she knows that there are people in this arena who are proud of what she has accomplished.
She looks over across the rink and sees Sasha screaming at Eteri and pulling away from her. She cannot understand what she is saying, but she can see the pain in her eyes. She knows she shouldn’t be thinking this, but right now she is glad that her coaches have decided to ignore her. She doesn’t want to be pulled into the mess that is Sasha’s rage.
Anna and Kaori realize that the medal ceremony is about to start and they head over to the rink entrance. As Kaori skates onto the ice, Sasha walks over to the entrance with her make-up cleaned up as best she could. She does not even look at Anna, but instead brushes past her and skates away onto the ice. Finally, it is Anna’s turn. She hears her music and begins her entrance. She waves to the crowd and tries to gauge their expressions. Are they happy for her, or are they happy that Kamila didn’t win? Are they pleased with her performance or are they pleased with a non-Russian sweep?
She makes it to her spot behind the podium as Kaori gestures to her that they can take off their masks. They announce 3rd place, Kaori Sakamoto, in which she steps onto the podium with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. She is given her award and waves it high and proud as she is met with lots of cheers. Afterward, they announce 2nd place, Alexandra Trusova, and she steps onto her spot with a face that says it all. If she could run away, she’d already be at the airport on the next flight to Russia. She takes her award from the ISU president and starts fidgeting. She’s looking around, rubbing her lips together, trying to do anything to keep her mind away from the ceremony. She meets Anna’s eyes for a brief second but sharply turns away with a somewhat disgusted look on her face.
Anna finally takes her first-place position and jumps up and down. She has completed her dream. This is her moment. She shows off her panda to the crowd and is met with insurmountable applause. Kaori and Sasha move up to the 1st place podium to get their pictures taken and Anna can feel how much Sasha wants to be anywhere, but next to her right now.
They step down from the podium and make their way to the front of the rink for more photos. Anna catches out of the corner of her eye a happy Kaori spinning for the crowd before making her way next to them. Anna smiles to herself. After a bit, Kaori brings the three of them closer together for a group photo before they skate away. Kaori leaves them to get a picture with her flag as Anna and Sasha exit the rink. They are asked to take a picture with their flag as Anna communicates to the volunteer that they do not have one. Eventually, Anna is able to get a picture with the neutral flag as she plasters a smile on her face for the crowd. Kaori glides by her while performing a lap, proudly flying her Japanese flag. Anna catches up with her, and they skate around the rink together with joy and all the glory they could ask for.
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Once the ceremony is over, Kaori and Anna have one last hug before they head back to their respective teams. Before they depart, Kaori asks for Anna’s phone and puts her phone number in. In the notes of the contact, she writes something for her. As Kaori walks away, Anna translates it, “When you know, you know.”
Little did Anna know how much weight those words would have on her in just a short time.